Lesson Learned: Don't Cheat

Brian Cushing was very well deserving of the 2010 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award. The Texans had a huge steal in the '09 draft when they took him 15th. He put up great numbers in his first year with 133 tackles, 4 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 4 interceptions. Those stats gave him a spot on the Pro Bowl this season. The one thing you have to notice is that in the first sentence of this post, I said "was" and not "is". After the news was spread that Cushing will be suspended four games during the 2010-2011 season for violating the substance-abuse policy after a test done in September, the Associated Press has decided to revote for the award.

Now we can't be sure how much this substance he used affected his play, but the fact that he knew about it means that he tried to beat the system. He said the substance was not a steroid, but it was considered a performance-enhancer. I originally agreed with the vote that he should have won the award, but because we don't know what impact this had on him, I would revote for Bills safety Jairus Byrd if I could.

Jairus Byrd was a second round draft pick. Six defensive backs were drafted before him, including Oregon teammate Patrick Chung. Nonetheless, Byrd led the league in interceptions with 9 despite playing in just 14 games and starting in 11 of them. Byrd had a very solid college career, but I don't think any teams saw him making this type of impact in his first year in the pros. Byrd also recorded 11 passes deflected and 45 tackles. The safety was the only Pro Bowler for the Bills last year and really the only impact player for them as well. I agree that Cushing had a fantastic season, but he was able to learn from one of the best linebackers in the game (DeMeco Ryans) while Byrd was drafted by a team without any real stars on defense. Byrd was the anchor of a secondary that was second in the league in passing yards allowed per game at 184.2. In my mind, Byrd had more of an impact in Buffalo than Cushing did in Houston. We will have to wait and see how many people agree with me.